Quit Your Day Job With Website Flipping

Making money is what we’re all after in capitalist America, and that is happening with increasing frequency online. For people who have never made money online before, the prospect may seem mysterious. It also may seem unrealistic or otherwise unattainable, as we all continue to hear about the many scams designed to con newbies into signing up for pyramid schemes or worthless e-books purporting to offer secrets for quick cash. While there certainly are many of these sorts of schemes out there, there are also many real, legitimate business opportunities on the Internet, especially for someone who is willing to learn something new and put herself out there.

One of the most compelling of these do-it-yourself internet jobs is website flipping. Website flipping is exactly what it sounds like: creating websites that have value and selling them for more than you spent to create them. This is actually easier than it sounds, especially if you have some website design experience going in. All you really need is to be able to set up a simple WordPress site, and many web hosting companies offer automatic installation of WordPress with the click of a button. WordPress is a self-publishing website platform with an easy-to-use online interface, so you never have to code anything or worry about server-side technical jargon. If you can write an email or use Facebook you can figure out WordPress.

Once you’ve got some rudimentary WordPress skills, you’re ready to start your website research. Start by finding a local business niche that doesn’t already have a huge corporate presence. Some good ones to consider are florists, dentists or restaurants. The idea here is to target a specific niche market in a specific geographic area that is not already covered by large chain stores. Once you have found your niche, start shopping for domain names. For example, if you’re focusing on florists in Orlando, Florida, look for names like “OrlandoFlorists.com” or “OrlandoFloridaFlorists.com.” Try to include at least two keywords in your domain name, and make sure one of them is a place name. This is going to help you drive traffic to your website by helping the search engines find you organically.

With your domain name and your WordPress site you’re well on your way to creating a valuable property. Write some articles about the niche, and include links to all of the stores in that niche in the area you’re targeting. The idea is to drive enough traffic that your site comes up before any others for your search terms. Keep at it. This is the part that takes some effort over the course of a few weeks. Regularly update your site with new content and links and keep checking Google. Eventually, with all of your updates, your site will come up on the first page of results. Most sites for florists aren’t going to be updated every week, and new content gets indexed by Google more readily than old content. This is the secret to the success of website flipping.

When you’re site is coming up on the first page of results, write a letter to several of the businesses in your niche. Explain that you have a website that is getting a large amount of targeted traffic for specific keywords that apply to their business. Your site’s visitors are valuable leads for these businesses, and the one that buys your site will gain a large number of new potential customers. This is worth real money to a small business, especially one in competition for a limited niche market. Depending on the level of traffic you’re seeing, you may be able to sell your site for $1000 or more. Make several of these sites, and you could be quitting your day job before you know it.

References and Resources:

Beginner’s Guide to Website Flipping
http://www.websiteflipping.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=60&Itemid=75

Flip Websites
http://www.flipwebsites.com/

Virtual Real Estate
http://www.etycoon.net/virtual-real-estate